Last Days
by yourfavecouldnever82
Summary: A GH cast fic that begins in September of 2011. Sam and Jason's marital bliss could be very short-lived. Dante's life hangs in the balance. Sonny wants Kate back. Lucky's hooked on drugs - again. Carly and Shawn are edging towards something meaningful... A story that takes place over the course of a year. How much can lives change in the span of 365 days?
1. Chapter 1

**_This fic will cover a year in the lives of our GH characters, picking up from the September 23rd, 2011 episode of the show. It follows canon up to that point but will quickly veer off in a direction I see fit._**

 _ **This is an ensemble piece. Endgames pairings are Lulu/Dante, Kate/Sonny, Shawn/Carly, and Elizabeth/AJ. Others to be announced.**_

* * *

 **Preface**

The clock read 9:35. And soon enough, 9:45 and then it was later still. When 10 p.m. rolled around she realized he wasn't coming. A flicker of doubt began to creep in. Obviously, he had decided to stand her up. But then she shook her head. No, Dante loved her. She really believed that now. He wouldn't not show up to his own place unless something had come up. Something bad, in all likeliness. The thought left her cold and she immediately reached for her phone again and pressed his number on speed dial. She had tried calling him before and his cell was turned off. But maybe, just maybe, he had turned it back on. She hoped. She needed to hear his reassuring voice.

She dialed and his voice mail picked up again, playing over in her ear, almost seeming to mock her. But she left a message anyway.

"Dante, its Lulu," she said. "Hey, uh, its past ten. You were supposed to be here like thirty minutes ago. Please call me. Let me know you're alright... I love you, _I love you so much."_

 **To be continued.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

Johnny stared down at the bloodied back of Dante Falconeri. "You shot him - you shot a cop!" he thundered at Anthony.

Anthony shrugged. "You sound horrified and may I say, very unappreciative. Very, very ..."

"You shot a cop!" Johnny reiterated.

"Yeah and I also saved your ungrateful tail. You can muster up a 'thank you' later. For now, should we blow this popsicle stand or what?"

"We can't just leave him here," Johnny protested. "He's bleeding ... A lot."

"Is he still alive?" Anthony cackled. "Well I'll take care of that." He cocked his gun again.

Johnny shook his head, holding out his hand to stop Anthony. "No! I'm not a big fan of this guy but he's out like a light anyway. He can't possibly identify us now."

Anthony sighed. "Loose ends, Johnny..."

Suddenly they heard a police siren wailing and saw lights flashing through the windows. "The cops are here!" Johnny said. "Let's get the hell out of here."

When Anthony failed to move, Johnny grabbed his father's arm and forcibly yanked him out the back exit. They arrived at an unmarked car and immediately hopped in.

"If he wakes up..." Anthony said as Johnny started the engine.

"I sincerely doubt that's going to happen," Johnny said. They had actually most likely murdered a man in cold blood. And not just any man but Dante Falconeri - Olivia's son; Lulu's lover; and Sonny's reason for a new vendetta.

XoXoXo

Lucky had taken Lulu's frantic call and knew where to find Dante. He had after all known of Dante's plan to check out Sonny's warehouse. He had assured her he would look for Dante and get him back to her ASAP. He had even gone so far as to promise he would return Dante to her in one piece and he hoped to God he could keep his promise for once.

He stopped the cruiser and turned off the lights. He was sure Dante would come out and flag him down since Dante's car was clearly parked in front of the establishment. But there was no sign of Dante and Lucky had a truly bad feeling about all of this.

He grabbed his gun from the glove compartment and climbed out, the gun trained out in front of him. He called Dante's name once more but there was still no reply.

He walked forward and arrived at the door. The knob gave way immediately in his hand. He was expecting some kind of ambush as he eased inside but all he heard was silence. He crept in slowly, surveying the darkened surroundings and was soon tripping over something. He went down hard on his knees.

"Damn," he muttered and then his mouth fell open as he realized that someone's legs had tripped him. He cried out in surprise and then scrambled to his feet, flicking on the lights. He immediately saw Dante lying face down on the floor, blood seeping from a huge gaping wound in his back. He dropped back down to his knees and ripped his shirt off, pressing it over the wound to hold pressure. With his other hand, he felt for a pulse but if it was there, he couldn't feel it. He had taken a pill tonight after going through Siobhan's things and it left him shaky.

"Hold on, Dante, if you can hear me," Lucky said and keeping his hand pressed to the wound, fished out his cell phone and began to dial 911.

XoXoXo

Carly arrived at Sonny's warehouse within five minutes of leaving Jason and Sam's reception. She had slipped off when Shawn wasn't looking because she needed a moment to catch her breath and because she didn't like that he felt obligated to be around her at all times because he was paid to. He had as much as said that about the night they spent dancing at Kelly's and it still infuriated her. But she knew the score now. She was his meal ticket and nothing else.

She had come on foot and her eyes went wide as she noticed the police cruiser in front of Sonny's warehouse. Something was obviously going down in there but since she heard nothing, she slowly walked forward. She would just collect the wedding present and be on her way. Admittedly the thought of going in there gave her the willies but she was never one to back down. Besides, Michael worked there now and she had to get used to the idea of him being inside. Plus, a morbid curiosity tugged her forward.

She slowly moved inside and immediately spotted her cousin Lucky sitting next to a body, pressing a bloody cloth into an even bloodier wound. It was like a kick to her stomach, especially as she realized the fallen body belonged to Dante Falconeri.

XoXoXo

"Care to dance?" Sonny asked her, offering his hand. She looked down at his palm, her eyes tracing the lines of his fingers. She knew his touch well, knew that it could feel so good, like coming home. But she also knew he could hurt her again and she couldn't take that chance.

He noticed her hesitate and said, "Its just a dance, Kate."

If only it were. Kate knew somehow Sonny had set his eyes on her again and she wasn't about to be some rebound girl. That wasn't her style.

"Sonny..."

"Come on. Its not a lifetime commitment."

"No, because you don't make those!" Kate snapped and then lowered her voice. "Never mind. I don't want to cause a scene."

"For once, stop worrying about how you look and just have some fun. Relax, okay?"

Kate sighed. She knew Sonny was not going to give up on this one thing and so she slowly slipped her hand into his. Immediately a jolt of electricity shot from the pads of her fingers all the way up her arm. Dammit. Sonny still had an affect on her. She had prayed he wouldn't, had prayed she would no longer cared what happened to this man, but it was impossible. He was in her system. For now, for always.

Sonny slowly pulled her into his arms and they began to sway to the soft music. The heat of his hands on her waist, seemed to burn right through the material of her gown. The way he looked at her so intensely, her knees felt weak. And she hated it.

"Have I told you yet how great you look?" Sonny asked.

Kate sighed. "Thank you..."

Sonny smiled, flashing those heartbreaking dimples at her and she closed her eyes briefly, not wanting to see them or feel the affect they had on her. Only his phone ringing roused her and she popped her eyes open, looking at Sonny.

"Aren't you going to get that?"

"I'm dancing."

"It could be important." She said and disentangled herself from his arms, hoping to break the spell he had over her. It didn't work but she would try to put literal distance between them.

She started to move away and he called after her. "Kate, wait!"

"Answer your phone, Sonny."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes and then flipped it open. "What do you want?" he barked at whomever. _"Carly?!"_

Kate rolled her own eyes now. Of course it was Carly. If not Carly, then it had to be one of his other women. But she paused then as she saw the look of horror in Sonny's eyes, noticed the way all color drained from his face.

"Sonny, what is it?" she asked instinctively. "What's going on?"

"Its Dante... My son ... He's been shot..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

The wedding reception became total chaos after Sonny's tearful announcement. Immediately people were scrambling for their coats and jackets. The mood was decidedly far less joyful now. Sam bit her lip as she watched Jason move to Sonny's side. She felt incredibly bad for both of them, but most especially Sonny. Sam looked at him with eyes that were filmed with sympathetic tears before turning to look at her new husband. "Go ahead. I need to clean up here, anyway."

Jason shook his head. "We can do that later. I know this is not how we wanted to spend our wedding night but –"

She shook her head. "Of course, you don't need to explain."

"I need you with me. We're in this together now," Jason said, looking at her tenderly. Sam nodded and then slipped her hand into Jason's, hurrying along with him after Sonny.

They all piled into Sonny's limo and he barked out orders to take them to General Hospital. Kate looked at Sonny as she sat beside him on the overstuffed back seat. "Who shot Dante?"

The question on everyone's minds.

"I don't know for sure," Sonny said darkly. "But when I find out, they are going to regret the day they were even fucking born."

XoXoXo

Shawn ended up going back to the warehouse to see what he could find out about the shooting. He truthfully wanted to find Carly first knowing she had wandered off but he owed his life to Sonny's organization and he had to see what he could discover about what had gone down tonight.

Upon arriving at the warehouse, he immediately spotted a tall, statuesque blonde through the crowd. So she had come back here. Why he didn't know but he didn't like it. Suppose she had been the one to be shot… He didn't like the idea at all. He had given her the impression that she was just a job to him and nothing more but that couldn't be further from the truth. Not at all.

He moved over to her across the parking lot as she separated from her cousin Lucky. It seemed Dante had already been loaded onto a stretcher because the police officer's fallen body was nowhere in sight. Carly looked up at Shawn as he approached. She asked him coldly, "What are you doing here?"

"When the son of my employer gets shot, I take offense to that," Shawn said. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to clear my head. Plus, I had forgotten Sam and Jason's wedding present earlier when I came to visit Michael…" Her blue eyes were wild and stormy and he didn't know how to take away the pain she must be feeling. He wouldn't want to because she was entitled to it after all she had been through. "I just keep thinking, you know, what if it was my son again?"

Shawn nodded, intending to listen as she talked when suddenly she looked at him with more clarity. "Look I need to get that present back because god knows it could be weeks otherwise. And if I don't give Sam a present, she and Jason are going to think I won't respect their marriage like I promised them I would and –" She broke off, clearly flustered. She was the strongest woman Shawn had ever known but even she had her breaking point.

"Look I'll get it for you," he said. "I have to go in there and see what I can find out anyway." He then turned on his booted heel and walked towards the building. There were cops everywhere and he was hard to miss at his enormous height, but somehow he managed to slip into the building so he could look around.

He spotted the present on a table in the middle of the room. He went to it and picked up the semi-weighty box before turning back to survey the room. Just then Dolores came marching in.

"What are you doing in here?" She demanded, her hands coming to rest on her lean hips.

Shawn held up the present. "Just collecting this for Carly Jacks."

"I am sorry but you cannot remove anything from this room," Delores said. "It's all considered evidence at this time."

Shawn started to protest when he heard another cop speak up. His name was Harper, or something or other. "Well I'll be damned," Harper said, whistling in surprise through his teeth. He held up a hand and inside his grip was none other than a little baggie full of white powder.

"You found drugs?" Delores asked as Shawn felt a feeling of wary disgust settle in his abdomen.

Harper nodded as from underneath a bag of coffee he extracted another baggie and still another with his gloved hand. "Oh, I found a lot of drugs," he said.

XoXoXo

By the time Sonny and company had arrived at the hospital, Olivia was already there, wearing a groove into the carpeting by the nurses' station. She looked up as Sonny and Kate moved over to her. Immediately she was hugging Sonny and wailing out, "Who did this, Sonny, who did this to our son?"

"I will figure it out, I swear," Sonny said. He pulled back to touch her cheek. "Is he here yet?"

"Yeah Steven just took him into surgery," Olivia said as tears kept up a steady pace rolling down her face.

"I am going to see what else I can find out," Sonny said and his hands clenched tightly at his sides. He was on the warpath, it was plain for anyone, including Kate, to see. If Dante didn't survive…

Kate shook her head. She wouldn't go there. She moved stiffly over to Olivia and offered her cousin the briefest of hugs. "Dante's strong," she said. "I know if anyone can survive this, it's him."

"God I hope so," Olivia said and made the sign of the cross. "Cause they haven't been telling me hardly anything. Worse, this happened at Sonny's warehouse. Where Michael Corinthos –" Olivia broke off but the damage was done.

Kate immediately sombered. "I know and I think of that night every damn day of my life. But this is different." She would do anything to believe that. It did haunt her all the time - that night, remembering the way Michael had fallen after a bullet tore through the warehouse, the way his bold stained body had ended up collapsed into Sonny's arms. Things like that haunted her and reminded her that the mob and Sonny were incredibly dangerous.

She shook her head. "I need to go."

"Connie, you just go here."

"It's Kate and I can't – I just can't be here right now," she murmured. She started to turn on her heel but only made it halfway to the exit before she felt her legs threaten to give out underneath her. She reached for the nearest counter to catch herself. She had never been a weak woman but it was moments like these when she just felt like she couldn't even breathe.

XoXoXo

Sam ended up offering to get everyone coffee down in the cafeteria. Jason had wanted to go with her but she insisted that she could do it herself, that Sonny and Olivia were the ones who needed him right now the most.

She soon returned with trays of coffee and set them on a chair beside a visibly shaking Kate. "It's going to be okay," Sam said to the woman. They had little in common and had certainly never been close but Sam could see when someone falling apart and she wanted to help. "Maybe if you just drink some coffee –"

"I don't want any damn coffee," Kate barked out. "Just – just leave me alone."

Sam sighed. "Okay but … Look if you want to talk, anytime, I can listen," she said, sensing there was more to Kate's near-breakdown than met the eye.

Kate hardly seemed to hear her, let alone see her. Sam shook her head and set a coffee cup down beside the other woman before distributing them to everyone else. Jason offered her an appreciative "thank you" and she just hugged him. She couldn't imagine how Sonny and Olivia would get through this if they lost Dante. She had lost a child of her own and she had never quite gotten over it...

"Penny for your thoughts," Jason said as he stroked her hair gently.

"I just feel bad for everyone involved."

Jason nodded. "Yeah me too… I am sorry again about our wedding night … That we're spending it here."

Sam shook her head as she leaned into him. "I'm not upset," she swore and it was true.

XoXoXo

Olivia wandered over to Kate after a bit as Sonny hassled some nurses about their son's condition. Tears were still in her eyes but she had stopped openly sobbing, trying to hold it all in and be strong. Still, the cup of coffee she had shook lightly in her hand.

"You okay, Kate?" She asked her cousin.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Kate returned with a wary sigh.

"We both love Dante," Olivia said.

Kate nodded. "Yeah …" She shifted uncomfortably on the hard chair. "Where is Lulu tonight? I would think she would be here at a time like this."

Olivia felt like smacking her own forehead. "Oh god, Lulu! In all this craziness, I totally forgot –" She set down her cup and pulled out her cell phone. "Dante and she had a special something planned tonight too. Maybe now it will never –"

"Don't think that way," Kate said.

"I hate to give this news over the phone but I can't leave my son," Olivia fretted. "I just hope there's someone who can bring her over. She shouldn't be driving feeling the way I already do."

XoXoXo

Lulu was going out of her mind with worry as she paced the apartment. She couldn't even think straight, at least not enough to figure out what to do next.

Just then the phone rang on the mantle and she dove for it. She was just picking it up when there was a knock on the door as well. "Hold on," she whispered to the caller as she moved over to the door. Her hands shook visibly as she reached out and gave the doorknob a twist.

She saw Lucky standing there and she knew it was bad news. "Lulu, I need you to come with me," Lucky said and she noticed a smattering of blood on his shirt.

"Lucky –"

"Lulu, I need to talk to you about Dante. He –"

Lulu shook her head. "Don't say it, don't say it, Lucky," she tearfully begged her brother. She then turned her back on him. "I need to take this call anyway. It could be Dante." She could tell herself so many lies right then just to make the reality of the situation dissipate. But the truth was still there as the caller announced herself.

"Lulu, its Olivia. I have some really bad news, hon." The woman's voice broke and Lulu turned to look at Lucky. He looked the way Lulu felt. Lucky instinctively reached out for her and she collapsed into his embrace as she heard Olivia utter three terrible little words.

 _"Dante's been shot…"_


End file.
